CONTROL YUAN, TAIWAN | CY finds systemic problems when investigating cases involving corporal punishment and gender equality among school teachers

Through the investigation of cases involving corporal punishment and gender equality among school teachers, as well as following up on investigation reports and corrective cases, the Control Yuan has found that there are still two systemic issues that require improvement in the current practical operation of the school faculty evaluation committees: Firstly, while external members have been added to the Faculty Evaluation Committee, the internal members still hold the majority, and the opinions of external members can thus not be effective. Additionally, there is no appropriate mechanism for retention and disclosure of these opinions. Secondly, the Faculty Evaluation Committee does not provide students or their representatives with the opportunity to present their views during deliberation.

The Control Yuan’s investigation report pointed out that while the Faculty Evaluation Committee must recruit additional external members to deal with cases involving teachers in gender equality, corporal punishment of children, bullying, and other related matters according to the current regulations, there is no clear regulation regarding the ratio of internal and external committee members, resulting in a bias in favor of the teacher’s side whenever a vote is taken. Members of the CY investigation team also indicated that according to the provisions and intent of Article 102 of Administrative Procedure Act, an administrative authority shall, before rendering an administrative disposition to impose restraint on the freedom or rights of a person or to deprive them of the same, give the person subject to the disposition an opportunity to state their opinions.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child states that “the absolute right of the child to human dignity and physical and psychological integrity, and all forms of violence against children, however frequent or light, are unacceptable, shall be prohibited.” To live up to such an ideal, the CY members believe that the government should be more proactive in dealing with systemic issues and attach importance to human rights knowledge and literacy among educators as part of the country’s emphasis on the human rights of children.

Source: Control Yuan, Taiwan